In the charming city of Wells lies LOAF, a family friendly café with young children in mind. As you walk in you'll see a fairy castle for kids aged eight-and-under to play on, a mannequin with a medieval princess's pointy hat (also known as a hennin), and a little shop full of things made for make-believe.
There's costumes, toys, little Taylor Swift paper dolls with her now-iconic sparkly pink bodysuit. Huge sparkly letters on the wall declare "WE BELIEVE". And while their kids are letting their imaginations run wild, parents can wind back with some brunch or speciality coffee.
While it is a refuge for parents and their young children, anyone is welcome. I saw some mums and their toddlers, but also a young professional tapping away at his laptop and a couple on a lunch date.
I'm what the US vice-president would call a "childless cat lady", so I have no personal knowledge of the struggle parents go through in public spaces (yet!). That said, I know from friends that not everywhere is welcoming or understanding of families: a place like LOAF is therefore stands as a pink oasis.
With all the family-friendly branding, you'd think the café might play a steady stream of Kidz Bop and Radio Disney music. Not so. In fact, soon after I sat down with my cappuccino I heard the opening notes to 'Nothing Matters' by the Last Dinner Party, off their saucily titled album "Prelude to Ecstasy".
Any rock fans reading might know that 'Nothing Matters' is a pretty mature song. That said, I listened intently for a radio-friendly, pre-watershed edit of the song. But nope!
"You can hold me, like he held her/
And I will **** ***, like nothing matters!"
I momentarily clutched my metaphorical pearls and popped my metaphorical monocle. This isn't very family friendly! If I was rewriting this for a G-rated audience, I would probably have had the band sing "And I will hug you, and eat fruit platters!".
It is a good song though, so I didn't mind too much. I don't know if they have a random playlist on shuffle or if the tracks are all handpicked. In any case, nobody seemed to notice or care, so maybe the slightly dissonant song choice wasn't a big deal.
There are other hints of LOAF's secondary audience: mums, dads, aunts, uncles, Godparents, family friends, anyone tasked with keeping the little humans happy. At the till, there's a little framed piece of embroidery cheerfully warning customers "Don't make me poison your food", a nice bit of black comedy for the grownups.
I ordered a cappuccino for £3.50. I had hoped to order their iced latte on such a warm spring day, but unfortunately they were out of ice.
The cappuccino had strong, dark roasted tasting notes and packed a bigger punch than you might expect from a cappuccino. I was delighted by this: for me, it was a pleasant surprise.
Presentation was more or less standard. I noticed they were using those handless, indented mugs that seem to be all the rage at the moment. Handles are so passé.
Taking in all the whimsy and wonderment of the brightly-coloured café, it joins the many eateries I've visited where the atmosphere overshadows the refreshments. That said, the refreshments aren't half bad, either!
LOAF is open seven days a week, from 8.30am to 5pm, Monday to Saturday, and from 9.30am to 3pm on Sunday.
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